Oaths and Grudges: Barony of Decay
by SpartAl412
Summary: After a hard night of drinking, a Dwarf Engineer and her Kislevite companion awaken to find themselves in the midst of a horrifying outbreak where the dead do not rest easily. Now trapped in an Imperial Town, they must work together with a group of other survivors if they are to escape this cursed place or join ranks of the walking dead.
1. 28 Hours Later

Pushing open the sturdy and thick wooden door which was reinforced with banded iron, Vanyra Skorrisdottir was struck by the familiar smell of smoked tobacco, ale, cooked meat and unwashed bodies. A bell placed behind the upper-left corner of the door ringed out as it opened and the eyes of various patrons were upon the dwarf and her companion. The fortified coaching inn which was called The Wenigschloss seemed to be not much different compared to the other cheap drinking holes which she had been finding in The Empire, the town which surrounded the coaching inn, which was named Mordendorf seemed like a rather large and surprisingly densely populated settlement, despite being in the middle of what seemed to be nowhere in the borders between the provinces of Averland and Stirland.

Protected by a suit of dwarf-forged steel chainmail which jingled slightly with every step, she kept on the hood of her stone-grey cloak which had acquired quite a bit of dust and grime since beginning her journey from _Karaz-a-Karak_. Behind Vanyra came Sashura Kostina who was clad in a fancy leather long coat with and a hat covering her head, the Kislevite's face was also covered from below the eyes with a scarf, giving the human a look like that of a common Highwayman.

Having met the Kislevite sell-sword some time ago near an Imperial town called Schlaussen where they had done some monster-hunting and ever since then, they had been travelling together towards Altdorf. Many of the humans patrons quietly sized them up before going back to their drinks, it was quite obvious that they had seen the several weapons the two carried. Ignoring the looks of the patrons, the Engineer briefly surveyed the interior and she was quickly able to find the bar.

Moving towards the bar and weaving between the seated crowds of men and women, Vanyra and Sashura received no trouble from the patrons as some looked at them with suspicion. At the bar, they found the innkeeper to be a very thin and rakish looking old man with a bald scalp which had a mirror-like sheen to it. The innkeeper who was busy polishing a pewter stein with a rag which looked it was long overdue for laundering.

'What can I get ya?' asked the innkeeper as the two sat themselves upon vacant stools to the old man's right. Vanyra herself had some trouble getting up on the stool which was clearly designed for the size of human and she felt annoyed as she heard the chuckle of amusement from some of the nearby patrons. As the dwarf sat herself down, she pulled back her hood while Sashura removed her cap and lowered the cloth in front of her mouth.

'Finest you have' said Sashura as she reached into her coin pouch and removed three golden Reikmarks. The old man's eyes widened at the sight of the money before quickly sweeping them off the counter with his right hand and into the waiting cup of his left hand.

'Coming right up then miladies!' said the old man in a suddenly friendly tone. The innkeeper then turned around towards an open doorway behind him, he raised his free right hand near his mouth and he called out 'Hoy! Richtof! Ready the Nob's Special!

'On it!' replied another man whose voice came from behind the open doorway, Vanyra saw a second old human lean out, he had a big bushy beard and a more strongly-built when compared to the innkeeper. Guessing that the second human was the cook, the other old man then disappeared back into the kitchen.

'What about for drinks manling?' asked Vanyra Skorrisdottir with some rather low expectations for within the time which she had been travelling through the Empire, her opinion of human-made brews were becoming lower and lower with each passing tavern.

'Well for a price of eight Karls, we got a keg of Bugman's in the cellar' answered the Innkeeper with a greedy smile.

'Did you say Bugman's, manling!?' quickly questioned Vanyra with surprise at the mouth-watering thought of being able to try even just a sip of beer brewed by the legendary Josef Bugman. Such was the quality of Bugman's beer that over the years, dwarfs have been willing to and indeed have died in many great battles just for a taste of it.

'I sure did mein frau' grinned the innkeeper with a confident look 'I will go have someone fetch it'. The old man then called towards one of the serving girls who was busily collecting payment from one of the tables and he asked her to go fetch the Bugman's. A rather plump and strong looking human woman who looked liked she may even have a bit of _dawi_ blood, acknowledged the order and went towards the kitchen.

Vanyra and Sashura waited for a only a short while before the cook came out with a big platter of steaming sausages, cheeses and bread. The cook set down the platter between the dwarf and the Kislevite while the innkeeper set for them plates; utensils and some steins which Vanyra hoped were cleaned with a different cloth. Soon enough, the serving girl came out of the kitchen and to the bar, in her arms she was holding up a keg which was at least four feet tall three feet wide.

The serving girl easily set the keg near Vanyra and Sashura with the label facing them. The Engineer's eyes widened as she read the label on the keg for indeed it was Bugman, she could even see that the keg which looked a bit dusty had been untapped. Upon the label in Khazalid script it read _Bugman's Knockout_, the sign was even complete with an engraving depicting a younger looking Josef Bugman braining a _grobi _with a mug which menaced with spikes on the sides.

'I will buy it!' decided Vanyra without thinking as she quickly reached for her coin pouch. On most purchases, she would feel reluctant to part with even a single pfennig but to part with eight gold coins for a keg of Bugman's? the dwarf would have been willing to pay a hundred crowns for it. 'Have it taken to our rooms with the food' she added as she stared at the keg with a look of longing.

'Aye then, right away miladies' grinned the innkeeper as he eagerly took their payment.

* * *

><p>Groaning in pain for it felt like a blacksmith had decided to her head as an anvil, Vanyra Skorrisdottir felt what was perhaps one of the worst hangovers in her life. Not quite remembering what had happened after that first drink of Bugman's, she barely recalled some sort of commotion going on downstairs, probably just a tavern brawl. The Engineer lay upon her back on the carpeted floor of the room she had rented out which was located across from the room of Sashura.<p>

Rubbing her eyes with the back of her right hand, the dwarf looked about blearily in the spacious, darkened room for she had felt so thirsty. Seeing the keg of Bugman's standing near her, Vanyra dragged herself to the barrel, each movement was a titanic struggle on her part and when she finally came close to the keg, she could still smell the lovely aroma of its contents. Shakily placing a hand upon the spigot and turning it, she was disappointed and profoundly saddened that there was not even a single drop left.

Muttering a foul profanity in Khazalid, she slowly brought herself back up to her feet with a staggering gait. On the side her room, there was a smaller room which contained a wash basin, a privy and a small bath tub. Dragging her feet to the rest room, Vanyra heard the loud ringing of the great bell from the local temple dedicated to Sigmar, in her hung-over state mixed with her keen dwarf-senses; it may have just as well be ringing right next to her ears.

'Grimnir's tattooed arse!' hissed the dwarf as she continued to move on to the rest room with the bell still ringing. Once inside, she dunked her head into the wash basin while standing on a bucket, the icy cold water sent pinpricks of pain into her face and clearing her mind of the hangover. Leaving herself in the cold water for a few seconds, she eventually brought her head out of it with a loud gasp of air which sent water droplets to splash upon the fur rugged floor.

Placing her hands around her head, Vanyra gently twisted and cracked her neck before doing the same with her fingers. Money well-spent she thought with approval before the sudden but distinct sound of a gun being discharged had sounded outside. Now what's going on out there? She wondered.

Hopping off of the bucket and landing softly on her booted feet, she moved towards the windows of the which were placed behind the double bed which she had found to be too soft. Glad that the dark cloth curtains had blocked out the sunlight, Vanyra knew that the light would have been hell on her eyes the moment she awoke. Climbing on top of the bed and moving towards the head rest which reached up to her neck, she slid the curtains open to the side and the Engineer's eyes widened in surprise at what she saw outside.

The streets were filled with shambling, pale-skinned humans which milled about on the roads. She could see that fires had spread out to some of the buildings with glass windows shattered here and there while upon the muddy cobbled streets, she saw pools of blood spread about here and there. On the wide street ahead of the inn, she saw a trio of humans running towards the _Wenigschloss_ as quickly as they could while a number of the pale-skinned shamblers began to pursue them.

One of the humans was wielding a bloodied woodsman's axes while he was leading a red dressed woman and a little girl with them. Several of the shambling ones began to move in the same direction of the trio with a few suddenly breaking off into a sprint and loudly shouting and snarling like feral animals. From her position, Vanyra could see the blood which stained the mouths and chests of the deathly-pale humans which were quickly gaining on the fleeing family.

'Grungni's Beard!' she exclaimed as the little girl tripped and fell face first into the muddied streets with the pale things close behind her. Quickly jumping off of her bed and racing towards her gear, the dwarf grabbed her sword, wrench and repeater crossbow along with three wood and copper magazines which contained steel-tipped bolts. Rushing towards the door leading out, she heard the sound of another pistol firing before running down the now sunlit hallway which led to a dead end on one side and a staircase on the other.

Going down the staircase and back to the ground floor as quickly as she could, Vanyra's appearance drew the fearful eyes of several human women, children and a few men who were huddled about in groups. Looking towards the entrance of the coaching inn which had its door held out wide open to allow the family she had seen enter. As soon as they were through, metal gate was quickly closed shut by a group of men who swiftly closed it with the cook from the previous night frantically rushing to lock it.

Moving towards the entrance, Vanyra began to pick up a foul smile which was akin to that of a bloated corpse left to bake in the sun. Gagging for a moment at the stink of it, she carried on with typical dwarfish fortitude with rifle in both hands; she stepped behind the entrance to allow the family to pass by. The dwarf could smell fresh blood on them and most worryingly, she saw a bloody wound on the side of the girl child's neck.

As she came outside, she saw several human men tightly clutching a variety of make-shift weapons. Their terrified eyes were focused on the pale-skinned creatures which at a closer look could not possibly be even alive in the first place, for many were missing large chunks of flesh which revealed the meat and bone beneath their bodies. The smell of them was even worse here and on some of them, Vanyra could see flies buzzing about with maggots writhing in eye sockets and craters of meat.

It was fortunate that the coaching inn was not only protected by thick, sturdy stone walls which were clearly of dwarf masonry but also by an outer fence of stone and iron bars which pointed upwards and ended with spearhead-like spikes. A few of the pale skinned creatures which she deduced must surely be zombies were attempting to climb up the outer wall. The manlings thrust or swung their weapons in vertical arcs between the bars to strike at the zombies which attempted to climb the fence.

Some of the undead creatures fell off the fence but some ignored the injuries dealt to them and continued their attempts at climbing while others pushed against the bars or the metal gate with pale arms sticking through between the metal spike, each one making an unnerving moan. The humans who were equipped with makeshift spears attempted to stab the zombies which tried to climb the fence with more than a few of the men losing their only weapons to the grasping hands of the undead horde.

A pistol barked and the head of zombie which attempted to climb up, exploded in a shower of rotten meat and bone which showered around the other shambling corpses behind it. The human who had fired the pistol was a grizzled looking, short-bearded man with brown hair and he was dressed in the leather jack and mail armour of the Empire's Road Wardens. As the law enforcer quickly went about reloading his gun with shot and powder, a series of several shots ringed out and several zombies were slain.

Looking to where the other shots had come from, Vanyra saw an old human man wearing the yellow and black uniform of an Averland State Troop Handgunner with grey hair and a thick but short beard. In the old soldier's hands, Vanyra saw that the man was wielding a multi-barreled rifle, an Imperial Repeater Handgun she noticed with academic interest. Both the old Handgunner and the Road Warden were quick to begin reloading their guns while the dwarf lifted her crossbow up to the fence and she sighted down upon a particularly ugly looking zombie which was missing its lower jaw, a black tongue dangled down from where its mouth should be.

Squeezing the trigger of her crossbow, Vanyra felt the recoil as her crossbow let fly a deadly bolt which found its way into the jawless zombie's right eye. The zombie fell back into the gathering crowd and the dwarf quickly sighted down on another while aiming for the head. Having read historical accounts of the Vampire Wars as well as the drunken tales of Slayers, the Engineer remembered hearing that the best way to kill a zombie is to decapitate one or shoot it in the head.

Only a few of the zombies were able to make it to the top of the fence, those that did became trapped as they were impaled upon the spikes. One zombie managed to make it over the fence but the undead thing simply fell to the ground and the frightened human defenders quickly rushed and began to beat and stab the thing with their weapons. Relieved at the moment that the fence was now clear of any climbing zombies, Vanyra was immediately more worried about the several dozens of walking corpses which crowded the sturdy fence.

'Now what in Valaya's Silver Cups is going on here manlings!?' spoke out the Engineer as she looked to the humans while reloading her crossbow.

'As you can clearly see good dwarf, we have a zombie outbreak on our hands' came the voice of the old Handgunner who was cautiously glancing towards the crowd of the living dead. 'I have no idea how it started, but it's been going on since yesterday' the old Handgunner then said as he took out a pipe from the right pocket of his trousers.

'Yesterday?' questioned Vanyra with confusion 'a friend and I came in to town last night and there were no walking corpses around, manling.'

'That was two nights ago mein frau' spoke the Old Handgunner with a confounded look on his face as he held a small box with one hand and placed tobacco into the pipe 'I was there by the door when you and your foreign friend came in!'

'Can you all talk about this later and focus on the horde of zombies outside!' came the voice of another human who was a rather burly, dark haired man wearing a black dyed leather jack. The second man wielded a wooden club with iron nails hammered into the top.

Setting her crossbow down by the entrance of the inn with the stock resting on the ground, Vanyra unsheathed her sword and she walked towards the fence of stone and iron. 'We will have to hack off the arms before we start stabbing or decapitating them' grimly spoke Vanyra as she looked at the mass of flailing limbs which were trying to reach for her. The Engineer had to admit that she was feeling rather terrified at this most unexpected situation, it was like Blackfire again.

As she took a step forwards, Vanyra heard a sudden scream coming from inside the inn.

* * *

><p>Staggering out of her room while cursing in her native tongue, Sashura propped her right forearm upon the wooden wall to the right of the doorway leading to her room. A severe, splitting headache wracked the skull of the Kislevite sell-sword. Having heard of the tales regarding the potency of dwarf beer, it was cleat that the stories were of no exaggeration, in fact, it did the mountain folk no justice.<p>

Taking a deep breath as she staggered down the sunlit hall, each step was followed by a jingle of mail links as she still wore the light chain shirt which she kept under her coat. The door leading Vanyra's room was left wide open with her companion nowhere in sight. The dwarf was probably downstairs having breakfast thought Sashura as mental images of greasy sausages and eggs made the sell-sword's mouth water as she reached the staircase.

Hearing a frantic series of footsteps rushing up the staircase and going down the hall of the second floor where the smaller common rooms were, the Kislevite could smell something like fresh blood mixed with a the familiar stench of a rotted corpse. Sashura's palms began to itch and the sell-sword instinctively reached for her dagger. Descending the stairs, she quickly reached the second floor of the coaching inn and she saw a that indeed there was fresh blood on the floor board.

With a critical eye, the Kislevite saw that the blood was coming up from the ground floor and it led into the lantern lit hallway of the floor she was on. Sunlight shined through one of the door to her left which was five doors down the hall, it was left open with the blood trail leading there. From the room she could hear the voice of a man and a woman desperately pleading in Reikspiel. Having a very bad feeling about this, the sell-sword decided to quickly check on things and see if everything was all fine.

Moving towards the open doorway where the sunlight disappeared for a moment, a sudden, high pitched scream sounded from the room and the sell-sword began running towards it while pulling her dagger out of its sheath. Breathing heavily as her head spun and the hangover began to hit the Kislevite with full force, Sashura soon arrived at the open doorway with a grisly scene playing out.

Within the rather small and less decorated common room, she saw a little girl with blood all over the left side of her neck which also stained her dress. The little girl was tightly clutching the shoulders of an Imperial man who was also heavily bleeding from the left side of his neck, to the Kislevite's horror; she saw the bloody chunk of meat between the girl's mouth. To Sashura's right, an Imperial woman wearing a red dress was screaming with in horror as a bloodied knife was held in the Imperial's right hand.

'_Chyort_!' hissed the sell-sword as she rushed into the room where the man who was clearly the father of this family was stepping back, dangerously close towards the window. The Imperial woman in the red dress who was clearly the mother continued to scream and before she managed to get close to the father with the little girl on his back, the man tripped over a bloodied woodsman's axe and he fell towards the window.

Before she knew it, Sashura saw the Imperial man hit the section of the wall below the window and the little girl who had torn a bloody chunk out of his neck was hurled outside with a shower of glass shard while the Imperial woman in the red dress screamed in horror. Stunned for a moment, Sashura quickly regained her wits and she rushed to the window where a foul stench was being blown in by the wind. The smell was just overpowering and the Kislevite stopped for a moment to gag before placing her right forearm over her nose and mouth.

Eventually sticking her head out of the window, Sashura saw to her surprise, the large horde of zombies which were gathered outside of the coaching inn's fence. Looking down to see where the girl had fallen, she saw that the child was now dragging herself to the nearest of Imperials. One of the men outside was quick to drop his weapon and rush to the little girl and Sashura swiftly began shouting a word of warning in Reikspiel.

The Imperial who had been running to help the little girl stopped for a moment to look up towards Sashura whose gut instinct told her that the girl was no longer normal. Thankfully, the Imperial man heeded her words and cautiously began to move closer to the little girl. A series of sudden, footsteps along with the jingling of chain links could be heard from the hallway of the second floor and Sashura looked back to see Vanyra appear at the door.

For a moment, the dwarf who was armed with her repeating crossbow, looked at Sashura before looking to the bleeding man.

'Oh what the _krut_ happened here!?' exclaimed Vanyra.

'I think child was ghoul!' quickly said Sashura while trying to explain in Reikspiel for in the past, the Kislevite had encountered the corrupted mutants which feasted on human flesh.

The Imperial woman in the red dress then began to run towards her husband, calling his name frantically. Stepping aside to allow the Imperial to pass, Sashura moved towards the doorway where Vanyra waited.

'Well this is crazy morning eh?' said spoke Sashura a bit nervously as she glanced back at the two Imperials within the room, the woman was kneeling in front of her husband and checking his wounds. 'Maybe you get medicine?' asked the Kislevite towards the dwarf who nodded and rushed towards the staircase and back up to the third floor.

Another series of foots resounded from the stairs going up and Sashura saw another Imperial who looked like a Road Warden climb up. 'What happened over there!?' called the Road Warden with alarm towards Sashura.

'Ghoul, I think!' answered the Kislevite and the man began moving towards Sashura's direction.

Hearing footsteps from above, Sashura stepped back to allow the Road Warden to enter the room and soon she saw Vanyra step down from the staircase with a leather satchel in her hands. Having seen how well her companion was in dealing with injuries, she decided to leave the dwarf to it. Sashura quickly thought about her horse and wondered if it was okay, she quickly went back towards the staircase, intent on checking her faithful steed.

* * *

><p>Setting down the leather pack beside her, Vanyra opened the top of the container and removed a small clay jar which contained a rather potent medicinal salve. The Road Warden knelt down as well to Vanyra's right while the Imperial man's wife had left to check on the little girl. It did not take long for the Road Warden to convince the woman to let them deal with her husband's injuries and with fearful eyes, she allowed them to do so.<p>

'Make sure to hold him down manling' commanded Vanyra and the Road Warden obeyed by firmly putting pressure on the injured man's wrists. 'This is going to hurt, a lot manling' warned Vanyra as she looked to the injured man who barely looked even conscious. Memories of the last time she had used the same medicine on a human were suddenly recalled by the dwarf and she hopped that the injured man did not struggle.

Taking a deep breath, Vanyra dipped her left middle, index and ring fingers into the small jar and she scooped out a dollop of a syrupy mixture. Normally now would probably be appropriate moment to give a kind word of encouragement but the dwarf simply steeled herself and lathered the medicine upon the human's neck wound. The injured Imperial gritted his teeth and closed his eyes while loudly making pained scream.

The dwarf medicine Vanyra was using would advisedly be used after consuming a generous portion of beer to dull the pain but as she was in yet again a situation where there was simply no time, she just proceeded with applying it. The injured man struggled painfully as sweat beaded across his brow and the Road Warden did his best to keep the man down as the dwarf applied a second dollop of medicine. The injured man continued shout through clenched his teeth which was wound so tightly that Vanyra feared that they would break.

Soon the pained noises from the injured Imperial became a low moan and a whimper and the man passed out. Thankful for the silence now, Vanyra pulled out a clean cloth from her pack and she began to wipe her left hand fingers. When her hand was more less, cleaned, she reached back into the satchel and removed a roll of clean bandages. Wrapping the bandages around the injured man's neck, Vanyra knew that she would have to check on the wound soon.

'You certainly know a thing or two about medicine, are you a physician' whispered the Road Warden with relief as the injured man settled down quietly but still breathing.

'I am not, manling' sighed Vanyra with a bit of worry for if what Sashura said was true, then there was the strong possibility of the injured man being poisoned for Ghouls supposedly possessed poisonous claws. 'I will have to wait and see if there was no poisoning' shrugged the dwarf.

'Rickert Grim' said the Road Warden as he raised his right hand for a shake 'Road Warden of the State of Averland'.

'Vanyra Skorrisdottir' introduced the dwarf and the two of them shook hands.

'The Handgunner you met earlier was old Willhelm' said the Road Warden with respect.

'A pleasure then' replied Vanyra politely who inwardly was quietly frustrated at this strange turn of events.

It was not long ago that she had been stuck for more than a week in an Imperial Fortress within Blackfire Pass where she had assisted the Imperial Army in facing off an entire greenskin Waaagh! Although it ended up becoming quite profitable for Vanyra, she was far from pleased about this other interruption with her quest. This was going to be an all-together different siege when compared to the Waaagh!

Hopefully when things would get more quiet they could discuss exactly what was going on here and what they should do about these zombies and more importantly, how they will be able to get out of here


	2. Forged to Suffer

The warm late morning air which on most days would be rather pleasant was completely fouled for it was filled with the stench of decayed, necrotic flesh as dozens of rotted throats let out ragged moans. Flies buzzed about the shambling corpses of the dead as maggots writhed within emptied eye sockets, split bellies and various other internal parts of the human anatomy which should not even be exposed to the open air. Pale hands which ended in blackened fingernails or sometimes even in boney claws with the flesh peeled off were sticking their arms through sturdy iron bars, each one of the shambling corpses chattered their teeth, eager to get the warm sacks of meat which lay fearfully away from them.

'Sweet Sigmar… there are so many of them' tiredly whispered the Road Warden, Rickert Grim as he wiped a soggy handkerchief across his face.

'Too many of them' grumbled Vanyra Skorrisdottir as she thrust a crude, make-shift spear into the face of a zombie, the spear head punched through rotted meat with a wet crunch as it impaled the cadaverous thing through its right eye.

Pulling back the spear which was coated with gore, the zombie she slew was pushed forwards by those behind it and leaving the lifeless body pressed tightly against the bars. It had only been a few hours since she had awakened to this nightmare and now she wished that she had just left early enough before this outbreak happened. "Hindsight makes a seer of all of us" a certain human poet once said.

The "spear" the Dwarf Engineer wielded was nothing more than a broom handle and her dwarf-steel hunting knife tied to the wooden pole with pieces of cloth torn from the inn's blankets. Many of the fellow survivors outside of the inn and manning the fences were mostly Imperial peasants who had never picked up a real weapon in their lives. Some wielded pitchforks, rakes, hoes and various other farming implements while others wielded meat cleavers, hammers, wood-cutting hatchets and many other tools which would normally be used in the everyday lives of the common folk.

The stench of the zombies was simply just atrocious and Vanyra as well as those humans who were busy trying to kill the walking corpses had tied strips of cloth around their noses and mouths. It did not help much at first but it was something at least until blood began to spatter the cloth as well and some were forced to just tough it out with the stench. Already, more than a few of them had to stop to vomit their guts out.

Already, she had used up two whole magazines of crossbow bolts with hardly any noticeable effect on the zombie horde and Vanyra had quickly changed her mind and sought out a more economical way in dealing with the dead. The humans around her had done the same with what little firearms they had, the sounds of their guns had silenced when the supply of shot and powder began to become dangerously low. Already, she had heard some grim talk about saving bullets for themselves in the event that the dead make it passed the fences.

The family which had earlier arrived with the injured child were being kept in the room which had been given to them. The father, of whom Vanyra had treated was in a more or less, stable condition with his wife to watch him. Their daughter on the other hand had to be tied up and gagged for the little girl had, after accidentally being thrown out of a window on the second story, attempted to bite the other survivors.

There had been a debate over what to do with the now feral child, Vanyra and Sashura had of course suggested to put it down but the Imperials had been adamant about being against it. They had locked up the little girl in one of the rooms next to where the family had taken up temporary residence with only the innkeeper holding the key for it. Vanyra hoped that the survivors would not come to regret it.

The overall mood of the survivors around the dwarf was one of tiredness and fear, the only thing which prevented a full-blown panic from occurring was that the coaching inn had some surprisingly strong fences and walls of dwarf-craftsmanship. Without it though, things would become truly dire and Vanyra did not want to think about what would happen for there were many injured humans who were sporting bite wounds. It was fortunate that the innkeeper had been generous enough have "donated" some of his supplies so that people could use it for cleaning the wounds.

One of major problems now though was that the horde of zombies which laid siege to the inn were all gathered around the place like Skaven to a piece of _Chuff_. To even just open the gates was suicidal and any attempt to go outside was just as equally fatal. It was just like Blackfire all over again thought the dwarf with frustration.

At the very least though, the innkeeper assured them that they still had a large supply of food, clean water and most importantly, drink, rather oddly though, he mentioned nothing about prices and Vanyra guessed that the humans had already dealt with that issue. The dwarf just hoped that their supplies would last them long enough until help arrives. Of course, considering the track record of how often the Empire seems to lose towns and villages however, Vanyra wasn't going to hold her breath.

Thrusting again with her spear and stabbing a zombie through the back of its mouth, Vanyra struggled for a moment to pull the weapon out before giving it a good tug. With a grunt, the dwarf took an involuntary step and the zombie collapsed. It was going to be a long day she thought.

* * *

><p><em>Later that evening<em>…

Wearily taking a seat upon a chair beside a small round table for two, Sashura Kostina's head lolled back as she let out a groan of relief as she set the haft of her bloodied _Berdysh_ on the side of the table. The Imperials around her were also exhausted for they had spent the entire day, stabbing, hacking bashing the skulls of the dead as well as lifting and burning the bodies of those climbers who had managed to make it inside the perimeter of the inn. Her mail armour was caked in gore and she smelled just as bad as the zombies.

Having long ago grown somewhat inured to the sight of unnatural horrors, the Kislevite just needed a stiff drink to calm her nerves. The same could not be said for many of these soft southerners for many men and women of the Empire were staring into their cups or into space with haunted eyes, some even had that look of disbelief, as if they wanted to deny the fact that there were zombies which were almost quite literally, at their door step. Had something like this happened in a _pulk_ or _stanista_ back home in Kislev, every man, woman and child would be doing their part in fighting back, not cowering and praying for deliverance.

Earlier, she had been relieved that the animals within the stables of the inn were relatively unharmed, but simply spooked by the smell of the dead. Unfortunately, if this siege lasted long, there was the strong likelihood of them devouring the animals inside for meat; they might even do so before their supplies ran out. Reaching for a small leather skin which she kept by her waist, Sashura removed the stopper and took a swig of the _kvas_ she had filled it with.

Having come to The Empire to sell her services as a mercenary, Sashura hated having to work for free. The thought of getting on her horse and riding away had crossed her mind, but the sheer number of the dead made the odds incredibly stacked against her favor. If the sell-sword wanted to survive the next few days, she would have to do her part in making sure the dead, stayed dead.

She wondered though on what was causing the dead to rise up now, necromancy and black magic was a strong possibility, but so were the diseases created by the Plague God. Things had been completely fine though when she and Vanyra Skorrisdottir had entered the town, no flesh-eating, walking corpses shambling about. If it was some necromancer who had commanded a horde of the undead though, then their situation would be a whole lot worse.

Whatever was the case, it was somewhat heartening to know that everyone in the inn at least knew that the only way to make sure the zombies were permanently slain was to aim for their heads. Taking another swig from her skin and feeling the warm rush as the kvas entered her stomach, she heard a series of footsteps upon the floor board and she knew that somewhat was coming to her. Looking to see who it was, she saw a rather burly Imperial man wearing a black dyed leather jack.

'Hey, uh, mind if I have a sip of that?' awkwardly asked the Imperial who looked to be around the same age as Sashura and she handed the container to the man. She had seen this particular imperial bashing in the heads of zombies with a wooden cudgel which had been fitted with nails around the head, Dazh knows that the fellow had earned a drink as well. 'Thanks' the Imperial man said as he lifted the skin and gave her a '_Prost_!' before drinking.

'Gods, that is strong' coughed the Imperial as he then handed the skin back to Sashura who gave the man a quiet nod. 'The name is Franz Weis of the Altdorf Press' the Imperial then said as he offered a hand to the Kislevite.

'Kostina, Sashura' replied the sell-sword as she introduced herself while giving the Imperial a firm handshake. 'First time you fight dead?' she then asked.

'Not the first time, no' answered the man as he took the seat across Sashura's 'I've been covering wars you know, following the Imperial Army to all sorts of places.'

With a slight nod of approval, Sashura wasn't sure if it was the _kvas_ talking but she found that this Weis fellow was not too bad looking. 'So, you know how to fight eh?' asked the Kislevite.

'I do yes, used to be a pit fighter and wrestler on the side' he then answered.

'Well I-' Sashura said but her words were suddenly interrupted by the crack of a gun.

'We should see what that was' Franz said and Sashura couldn't agree more for it was possible that it was more of the zombies which actually seemed capable of running and even climbing.

Standing up from her seat with a grunt and grabbing her _Berdysh_, it was time to get back to work she wearily thought.

* * *

><p>The head of another zombie which attempted to climb up had exploded in another shower of meat and bone. Smoke wafted from one of the barrels of the repeater handgun which the old soldier named Wilhelm or simply "Will" carried. There were two more of these agile and dexterous zombies who were attempting to scale the fence and Vanyra Skorrisdottir tightened the grip on her makeshift spear again.<p>

There was just no end to these damned things thought Vanyra as another shot rang out and she saw the head of another zombie explode. The third zombie managed to climb up to the top of the iron fence, its belly was pierced by the spear-like tips above their defenses and it fell off with part of its ruined entrails still caught on spikes. The zombie landed with a wet thud, like dropping off a large slab of raw meat, fresh off of the butcher's block, quickly rushing the zombie before it could get up, Vanyra thrust her spear into the back of its head.

The hunting knife tied to the broom handle pierced through the skull of the zombie with another grisly crack and the horrid thing finally stilled. Pulling the spear out with a grunt of effort, she took a step back with sweat beading upon her brow. Hearing a series of footsteps from behind her, Vanyra saw Sashura and a few other manlings who had gone inside to take a break.

'We hear shots!' Sashura announced as the Kislevite carefully scanned the horde outside.

'Three more tried to climb over' came the voice of the old state trooper as he busily reloaded the barrels of his repeater gun. 'Head back in and take a rest, we have things under control for now' he then said before looking to Vanyra 'you too mein frau, you look like you need a rest as well.'

'I am fine manling' replied Vanyra indignantly for like many dwarfs, she took pride in the ability to face through adversity and hardship with a stoic resolve.

'That's why you need to rest too mein frau' the old man then said in a more kindly tone 'out of all of us here, you dwarfs can endure a lot more than we humans can, better that in case things get bad, we have at least one person here who isn't tired out'.

Feeling a bit of pride swelling up inside, Vanyra knew it was true that the _Dawi_ were much a hardier breed than any _Umgi_. The old man's logic was sound she supposed, better to have at least one person who is well rested enough to fight rather than none. Looking to the old man, she nodded and said 'All right then, but if something happens, I am coming back out.'

'I will be sure to do so, mein frau' the old man replied as he placed the ramrod into one of his gun barrels 'now go get some rest'.

Turning away from the old man as well as the sights and smell of the dead which surrounded them, Vanyra felt eager to go get a drink.

* * *

><p>Picking up a stein filled with one of the local brews of ale, Sashura knocked back her head and eagerly drank down its contents. Personally, she would have preferred Kvas or Vodka and normally she would not complain about the quality of the ale because it actually was not bad, it was just that after recently just trying some dwarf beer though, the difference in quality was as clear as spring and autumn.<p>

Seated next to the Kislevite was her recent traveling companion, Vanyra Skorisdottir and the Imperial fellow, Franz Weis. They had talked quietly about the situation along with some of the other survivors, pitching ideas on what they should be doing or what was the cause of it. Many agreed with the idea of some foul necromancer being afoot but some were claiming that it was the wrath of the gods.

At the very least though, no one was at the moment, pointing any fingers at either herself or the dwarf because in the short time which she has travelled the Empire, Sashura had learned the hard way that simply coming from outside of town is more than enough for people to start contemplating the idea of forming a lynch mob. It was not her place to judge though for in Kislev, many folk had practices and customs which may seem strange to the folk in the next _stanista_. Still though, it is not like people back home were constantly looking for a reason to start a public execution, things like that are what the Tsarina's _Chekists_ are for.

There was also the possibility of other survivors in the town for they had heard the bells at the town's Sigmarite Temple ringing again. Ideas of going out of the fortified inn to look for missing family and friends at the church were greatly discussed as well; unfortunately, those ideas were also shot down for they were quickly reminded about the swarm of zombies outside of the fence.

The mood within the inn had become more dejected, it would not take much for it to turn into anger and accusation's. Taking another drink again and trying to drown out some of the things she had seen and done today, it was honestly just another bunch of bad memories through a long list which at times, kept the Kislevite up night. Her traveling companion at least seemed to be taking it rather well, then again though, Sashura had to remind herself that Vanyra was not human and did not look at things the way she or anyone else would.

As she set her stein down, a loud shout of surprise suddenly sounded from the kitchen, the heads of several of the survivors were turned towards the room with fear. Quickly getting up while pushing her seat back, Sashura saw the dwarf quickly sprint towards the kitchen while pulling out the metal cudgel which Vanyra called a wrench. Following the dwarf with Herr Weiss right behind her, she drew her dagger from its sheath and passed the bar area and into the kitchen of the inn where a loud thud sounded.

Inside the kitchen, Sashura saw the cook holding on to top of a barrel, the large old man was tightly applying pressure to the floorboard. Looking down to where the barrel stood over, Sashura saw to her surprise, three pale fingers which ended in bloody stumps.

'Th-there was one of them! In the cellar!' stuttered the cook as he looked to the three of them, his eyes wide with terror and Sashura could hear a faint moan and scratching from beneath the barrel.

'How in Gazul's Halls did one of the dead get there manling?' demanded Vanyra.

'I-I don't know! I was just fetching some more beer, then I saw it and it chased me!' replied the cook with barely suppressed terror.

'Stand aside then manling' the dwarf gruffly said as she lightly smacked the head of her wrench upon her left palm.

The cook looked at Vanyra rather incredulously for a moment before moving the barrel. As soon as the container was moved, Sahura saw a floor door which began to slowly move up, the now familiar stench of a zombie wafted out to greet them as a pale hand crawled through. Disgust welled up within Sashura as the zombie rose up from the floor door with a nightmarishly rotten visage; it let out a low moan before the dwarf smashed her wrench into its face with a wet crack.

The zombie then collapsed, dead for good with the dwarf cursing in the tongue of the mountain-folk. Vanyra then pulled her wrench out with one boot to its face and she lifted up the door to the cellar. To their collective and further disgust, Sashura saw that the zombie was completely missing the lower half of its body with entrails and guts all spilled out over a series of wooden steps.

'Ursun's teeth' hissed Sashura at the sight of this and she heard similar words from Vanyra, Franz and the cook.

'I better go check if there are more' grimly said the dwarf as she began to descend the stairs and into the dark cellar.

Searching around to see if there was a lantern or something which she could use, Sashura wasn't about the let the dwarf go down there alone, who knows what else could be hiding there.

* * *

><p>Carefully walking over the now stilled corpse which lay upon the stairs, Vanyra warily surveyed the cellar beneath the kitchen. The zombie had left a messy trail of dark red, almost blackish gore which wove from one corner of the cellar. Keeping her senses alert and both hands on her wrench, the Engineer's heart thumped rather loudly under her breast.<p>

The cellar was lit by lanterns with guttered candles, barrels of ale were neatly stacked around the place and she even saw wooden racks containing bottles of wine. It was quiet here with the only sound being her boots landing on the wood steps, it was a good sign she supposed for the zombies often seemed to make a moaning sound wherever they go.

Her booted feet landed upon the cold stone floor of the cellar, each step caused an echo to ring out across the space. It was actually kind of nice to be underground again she thought, even if it was just wood above her head. Cautiously following the trail of blood, it did not take Vanyra long to find its source.

Upon a section of the wall between two standing casks, she saw a small hole with bricks lying about. There was an old musty smell, like a tunnel which had not been used in years mixed with the "fresher" smell of rot and decay. Curious at this, Vanyra tapped her wrench on to part of the wall behind the casks and to her surprise, it was hollow.

There is a tunnel behind the wall she realized with curiosity building up inside. Striking the bricks with the head of her wrench, she saw that the wall was rather flimsy and in need of repairs as well, typical manling masonry she thought with disdain. The footsteps of three people could be heard from the stairway leading up and Vanyra saw the yellow glow of a lantern.

'Find anything!?' came the voice of Sashura.

'There is a tunnel over here!' shouted Vanyra and soon she heard the three humans coming towards here.

Sashura arrived with the cook who tightly held on to a meat cleaver as well, with them was the other human man she had just been introduced to named Franz Weis. The three humans inspected the hole made by the zombie with the cook claiming that it did not look like a tunnel. Rolling her eyes, Vanyra asked them to stand back and watch and they did so rather warily, allowing the dwarf to show them.

Holding the wrench in both hands, Vanyra swung her weapon and tool with all of her might and the bricks began to loosen. She did so again and after three more strikes, the bricks collapsed to reveal a tunnel which was probably a little below four feet in height and six feet wide. As the dust settled, the humans inspected it again with the dwarf, Sashura and this Franz fellow looking at the cook for an explanation.

'I- I don't know anything about this tunnel! I swear!' said the human in a manner which actually seemed sincere.

'Really then?' asked Franz Weis skeptically 'it is rather suspicious that there is an underground tunnel beneath this inn.'

'I swear to Sigmar that my brother and I didn't know anything about this tunnel!' the cook said, obviously referring to the innkeeper. 'We bought this place thirty years ago when the town was just getting started' explained the man who then suddenly became silent as something dawned on him. 'We bought this place from some Halflings' the cook said with realization as he then asked 'you don't think that they were doing some illegal stuff down here, do you?'

Looking back to the mouth of the tunnel and studying its width and breadth, Vanyra nodded for the size was certainly tall and wide enough for one of the _grombolgi_… it was also enough for a _dawi_ to crouch through. 'Well the proportions are enough for a halfling to fit in' observed Vanyra.

'They must have been smugglers then!' announced the cook 'no wonder why we got this place so cheap!'

'Whatever it is, it's a problem' Franz Weis then said.

'Da, is true' Sashura agreed 'if one zombie go through, why not more?'

'We ought a cover it up again!' the cook said with alarm.

'Or it can be an escape route' added Vanyra and the three humans looked at her. 'Think about it, Vanyra then said 'we got no way out from the front and the back of the inn is also crowded with the dead, if this tunnel can lead us to a spot with a lesser number of the dead, we might be able to make a run for it, or send someone to get help.'

The three humans quietly thought about it for a moment, it was clear from their expressions that they understood the logic behind the Engineer's plan.

'But who will go? Asked Franz.

'I will do it manling' Vanyra said grimly 'you humans with your long legs will be at a disadvantage in there.'

'You sure _vebla_?' Sashura asked rather uneasily.

'Aye, I will' the Engineer then said with finality in her tone as she looked them in the eye 'I will just get the rest of my kit before heading out'.

The three humans looked at each other, unsure for a moment before they parted ways to allow Vanyra through. The dwarf made her way back upstairs, intending to get her crossbow and sword, a small part of her was screaming admonishments at herself for volunteering for what could be an unnecessarily dangerous task. While there was some truth in that, Vanyra had a feeling that the fence may not hold the dead back forever, even if it did, there was the problem of food and supplies.

Vanyra still had a quest to complete, she still had her brother's oaths and grudges to fulfill. She wasn't about to let an army of walking corpses get in her way and she sure as hell wasn't going to abandon the manlings if there was even the slightest chance of getting all of them out of this alive. Setting her feet back on the stairs, Vanyra squared her shoulders and ascended with a determined purpose to guide her.

* * *

><p><em>A few minutes later…<em>

'Good luck _Vebla_, may your Ancestors keep you safe' Sashura said with respect as she looked down towards her.

'May your gods do the same' nodded Vanyra as she looked to her companion and to the four other humans who had gathered around her.

'If you can Frau Skorrisdotti' came the voice of the Road Warden, Rickert Grim 'you should check the Temple of Sigmar on the north side of town for any survivors, the Militia Barracks on the east end might also have survivors maybe even useful stuff and things.'

'Got it, check the Temple and the Barracks' said Vanyra before pulling up the hood of her cloak and turning her back to the humans. 'If I don't hear from me in the next hour or two, seal it' the dwarf commanded as she glanced back to them and they nodded in response. Taking a deep breath of fetid and musty air, she then stepped into the darkness with held lowered not looking back even once with crossbow in her hands.

The dwarf's eyes quickly adjusted to the lightless conditions within the tunnel for the _dawi_ were intimately familiar with the darkness of the deeps. With footsteps echoing across the tunnel, she felt the comfortingly familiar reverberations of the stone around her and through it; she could tell the way ahead was clear for now, at least. At first, Vanyra had been worried that the tunnel had been poorly made and it would collapse round her, but the further she went in, she began to find signs that the tunnel may have actually been built by dwarf hands.

The tunnel curved and bended in patterns which were drawn like a map in her mind, sometimes the tunnel's width would widen and she would see natural supports made from the very rock and stone itself. It was comforting to know that she was in a place dug by her own kind, but it begged the question as of why there would be a tunnel here in the first place. Perhaps the original owner had engaged in illicit activities and hired dwarf miners to dig out a place to smuggle goods? Perhaps it was merely some sort of escape route? Vanyra guessed that she would never know for it was hardly important at the moment.

The smell of rot lingered within these tunnels and sometimes when she looked down, Vanyra would find the putrid remains of rats. It seemed that their unexpected guest had been having a _guz_ of rodent meat. The path of the tunnel took her only a short distance away from the inn and already she instinctively knew that she was across over to the next town block with a building above her head.

After a few more minutes of travelling within the confined space of the tunnels, Vanyra soon felt the tunnel going upwards with a light, cold breeze emanating from its direction. The air eventually began to become less thin and stale with a familiar stench of decay as the ground above her head began to become less and less until she found herself poking her head out of a hole which had once been covered by a wooden floor board. Looking around cautiously, Vanyra found herself to be in what looked to be a storehouse, of what was in storage though, she had no idea but the stench had grown stronger.

Carefully climbing out of the hole with one hand, the Engineer brought up her crossbow and swiveled about; looking for any possible targets and what she found had caused her guts to churn. Suppressing the urge to gag, the dwarf honestly wished that she could right now be in a place with a lot of fragrant flowers for there was just blood and corpses everywhere!

The place was like an abattoir with several bodies were strewn about, a number of which were so chewed up by the zombies that there was nothing left but bloodied bones and bits of meat. Several rotted corpses also lay around with clear wounds to the head being the cause of their demise. Weapons were also strewn about and Vanyra saw on some of the chewed up corpses, fragments of the bright, striped cloth favored with the uniforms of the Imperial Army.

It seemed that the town militia or a group of soldiers had tried to hole up here or perhaps they tried to acquire supplies. Unfortunately, the dead had gotten to them and the _umgi_ had fought to the last. She guessed that the hole leading to the tunnel must have accidentally been made during the fighting and their guest had simply been knocked into it.

The moans of the dead could be heard not far away from Vanyra's current position, she looked to her left and cautiously checked to see if the building was secure. Slowly stepping ahead while keeping her crossbow raised, Vanyra quickly found the entrance to the storehouse with its front doors opened widely. The breeze from the outside was stronger here and it carried the smell of the dead with it.

A zombie milled about in front of the entrance, moaning as it stared at a shelf and unaware of the dwarf's presence. Taking aim, Vanyra pressed the trigger of her crossbow and unleashed a bolt which struck the side of its head. The zombie stood there for a moment before it collapsed with an audible thud.

A series of shuffling footsteps soon drew closer to the entrance and another zombie stuck its head out. The dwarf fired another crossbow bolt at the second walking corpse as it turned its head in her direction, the steel tipped projectile impaled the empty socket of its right eye before collapsing to floor. A third and fourth zombie came in and each one received a bolt to the skull.

Vanyra allowed a tense moment of silence to pass until, waiting for more zombies to show up and was soon rewarded with none. Taking a deep breath of the fetid air, the dwarf cautiously made her way to the entrance. Retrieving what crossbow bolts she could from the corpses, she cautiously stuck her head out from the entrance and checked to see if there were any zombies about.

The streets outside of the warehouse were mostly empty with a few zombies shuffling about not far away. With a grim nod and a prayer to Valaya for protection, Vanyra stepped out of the doorway and into the streets of Mordendorf. Shaking her head with disdain, she wondered why the Imperials even bothered to give this town such an ominous name, it was just asking for troubling in her opinion.

The zombies upon the streets had still yet to notice her presence and the dwarf hoped that things would remain that way as she stuck to the shadows. Moving as quietly as she would within the forests and mountains of the Old World, Vanyra Skorrisdottir kept her eyes and ears open for all she needed was one mistake and the dead would be upon her. Quickly deciding to go and see if she can find the Barracks, Vanyra crept off, watchful of the dead.

* * *

><p>Doing her best to catch some sleep, Sashura lay upon the bed she had rented out with her cap covering her face while clothed in a set of clean riding clothes. Despite having survived sieges and protracted battles against the followers of the Dark Gods in the past, the Kislevite had been having difficulties for at the back of her mind; the idea of the dead being so close outside and relentlessly clawing their way in was… disconcerting. Even the Beasts and most Warriors of Chaos occasionally needed to rest as well but the dead though were an all together different enemy, one which had no need for something as mundane as sleep.<p>

The sell-sword was also a bit worried for her recent traveling companion. In the short time she had known the dwarf; Sashura had to admit that Vanyra Skorrisdottir had proven to be a trustworthy and steadfast ally, despite being rather close-mouthed and secretive of her affairs. Whatever was the case, Sashura was respectful enough to let the dwarf keep her secrets for the sell-sword had her own share of skeletons in the closet.

As she continued to try and catch some sleep, Sashura heard a muffled scream from bellow and she growled in annoyance while hissing a series of colourful expletives in her native language. With a grunt, she got off of her bed, taking the dagger beneath her pillow and her sword which lay on the nightstand next to her. Muttering another curse as she put on her knee-high riding boots, the Kislevite heard another series of muffled shouts along with a series of loud steps.

Drawing her sword and making her way to the doorway, the Kislevite soon went down the hall and stairway of the third floor.

'Oh Sweet Sigmar!' shouted the voice of the old Imperial Soldier who had been organizing the defense of the inn earlier.

An ill-feeling crept up within Sashura and she found herself to subconsciously tightening her grip upon the hilt of her sword. Arriving at the second floor again, the Kislevite saw on the left side of the corridor, the door which led to the room where they had locked up the ghouled child was opened and an audible commotion was going on. Rushing down the hall a second time, Sashura quickly found stepped at the room with weapons at the ready and inside she saw that it was now all over.

Breathing heavily with blood spattering his uniform, the old Imperial Soldier tightly held on to his repeater handgun with blood dripping from the stock of the gun. With a quick survey, Sashura felt the bile rise up within her throat and she could not help but mutter an oath to Dazh. Within the room, Sashura saw the little left arm tied to the bed post with the corpse of the child standing near the old man, the little girl's head was smashed in by a bludgeoning weapon.

The old man looked to Sashura with a traumatized look and he stuttered with disbelief mixed with horror 'sh-she attacked me!' he said. Sashura was quick to note a second body within the room, it had belonged to the mother of the family who now stared blankly at the ceiling with a look of surprise and pain as the Imperial woman's throat had been torn out.

Shaking her head Sashura already had a good idea on what had happened. The mother had stolen the key from the innkeeper and went to check on the child, when she opened the door, she found the severed arm attached to the bed post and was attacked by her daughter. Moving towards the bedpost and past the old soldier, Sashura briefly inspected the arm and indeed, her suspicions were confirmed for she saw bite marks near the shoulder which ended in a gory stump.

Screams began to sound from within the rooms where the injured were being and soon several doors opened with rapid succession as terrified Imperials ran out with more than few clutching fresh, bloody wounds.

'Ursun's teeth' breathed Sashura in Kislevarin as she saw a number of pale figures lurch or run out of the room as well, blood covered the mouths of some while others were chattered their teeth, eager to chew on warm flesh. Milky pale orbs were all that remained of their eyes and Sashura could not help but repeatedly shout '_BLAYD!_'

* * *

><p>Firing another crossbow bolt which struck the back of a zombie's head, Vanyra removed the magazine of her repeater crossbow and placed it into her pack while loading a new one into the weapon. Although she still had about three full magazines left, the Engineer knew that she would need to conserve her ammunition if she didn't want to have to start going in with melee.<p>

It should not be far now she thought with relief for she had earlier found a wooden signboard showing the direction to places of interest within the town. The Engineer had also found evidence that there still may be survivors around for she had also found several corpses with their heads hacked off or destroyed into mush while some had broken arrows or bolts sticking into their skulls.

Picking up the bolt from the zombie she had slain, Vanyra quietly pressed on towards the barracks. There were a relatively lesser number of zombies in this area she had noted, a good sign that perhaps the Imperial Soldiers were taking back the town. Soon enough, the Engineer laid eyes upon a thick, tower-like structure, a blockhouse she believed it was called and to her relief, she saw the lights of lanterns glowing from the windows, around the structure, she saw several corpses ringing the place in great mounds.

Carefully picking her way over the bodies and wary of any possible zombies, Vanyra's movements had been slowed for the dead reached up to her waist, she noted that there were a large number of bodies which looked not only a bit fresh but were also stripped of their garments. A shudder ran up the dwarf's spine and she knew that she was going to see these corpse mounds in her sleep. By some miracle, she managed to get past the piles of dead and towards the Blockhouse unmolested.

Quickly sprinting towards the Blockhouse, a loud bang rang out from one of the windows above as a handgun fired, causing a bullet to strike the ground next to Vanyra's right.

'That's close enough stranger!' shouted a deep, masculine voice from above and Vanyra looked up to see a group of humans pointing guns at her. Oh _krut_ not again she mentally thought for this was not the first time that Imperial Soldiers were pointing weapons at her. 'Lay down your weapons and come quietly towards the door!' shouted the voice again.

'I am not one of the dead!' replied Vanyra who waved her arms at them and another gun fired with a bullet striking the ground near her feet.

'I said drop your weapons!' shouted the same voice with a more threatening tone which made it clear that the speaker was not about to offer a third chance.

'_Krut_' hissed Vanyra as she did what she was told. Placing her crossbow on the ground while following up with her sword and wrench, she looked up to the humans at the Blockhouse with anger in her eyes.

'Now keep your hands up where we can see them!' the voice called out again and Vanyra obeyed while staying still. The front doors of the Blockhouse opened up and she saw a group of armed humans in ill-fitting uniforms emerge from the structure. The soldiers moved towards Vanyra with the points of spears and halberds aimed at her while her hands still remained up.

A pair of human soldiers then came forwards to grab her gear while another human, a large brutish and ugly-looking, helmeted man with a scarred face came forwards with a pair of manacles. The scarred man bent down in front of Vanyra who glared defiantly at him, his face was a little above her own and she saw a leering look on his face. The dwarf could also smell his breath which was almost as bad as that of the dead.

'Now put your hands behind your back, dwarf' came the gravelly voice of the scarred man and Vanyra glanced around to see the armed humans whose weapons moved a little closer to her face, at a closer look, she noted that most of them had a lean, hungry look which made them seem rather shifty. Indignation and disdain welled up inside of her as she was forced to do what she was told by the scar-faced man. The scar faced human got up and knelt down behind her, she glanced over her shoulder to see him placed the mancles around her wrists.

The human suddenly thrust his head forwards above her left shoulder and she heard him deeply inhale her scent, Vanyra felt the human's stubbled chin brush against her skin, much to her further disdain.

'You smell good little girl' growled the scarred human with amusement 'wonder how you taste too?' The scarred man then got up and barked 'now march!'

Glaring up to the ugly human with anger, her eyes promised death if he tried to touch her, Vanyra saw only a look of further amusement in the expression of the scarred man, who seemed hardly impressed. Squaring her shoulders and walking towards the Blockhouse with the escort of armed human soldiers behind her, Vanyra silently promised these humans that if this was not some misunderstanding, there would be a bloody reckoning awaiting them.


	3. Fight or Flight?

Drawing her shaska as quickly as she could, the scraping sound of the blade escaping its sheath was drowned out by the screams, footsteps and moans of the dead. Sashura swung her sword to her right and she followed up with a kick which knocked the nearest zombie into another of the dead with its head dangling grotesquely as the northern steel blade severed most of its neck. Quickly adopting an aggressive stance, the sell-sword thrust her sword into the eye of another zombie and piercing its brain before stepping back to make space.

Survivors ran in terror towards the ground floor of the inn as shouts from Wilhelm the Handgunner could be heard as he tried to get past them. Drawing a dagger her dagger, Sashura plunged the short blade into the right eye socket of a zombified woman before severing the neck of another zombie. Stepping back to make space, the Kilsevite knew well enough that she can take the dead on a few at a time but she could not allow herself to be flanked or surrounded.

A trio of loud cracks rang out behind her as the Old Soldier, Wilhelm fired a three shots which felled two zombies and pulverized the lower jaw of another. A fourth shot rang out from a room to her right and she saw the Road Warden, Rickert Grim emerge with a hatchet in hand while his flintlock still smoked around the barrel. The Road Warden swung his hatchet in an overhead chop which struck the scalp of a zombie while reversing the grip on his flintlock and bashing a zombie in the face of another with the gun's handle.

The fight was brief but intense as the zombies proved to be slow and predictable for all they did was try to grab and bite one of them. Sashura heard a shout of pain from Rickert Grim but had no time to see what happened to the man for another pack of zombies closed in on her. Killing a zombie with a dagger thrust up the lower jaw and burying the blade of her _shashka_ into another's forehead, she continued to slay the zombies until the last one fell to the bloodied floor and leaving the sell-sword along with the two other men breathing heavily.

'Sigmar's Beard! What the hell just happened?' came the exasperated voice of the Handgunner as he heavily leaned upon the wall to his left with the forearm pressed upon the plaster.

'Plague…' hissed Sashura while gritting her teeth and muttering a series of expletives in her native tongue for she had seen diseases spread like this back in Kislev.

'The Ruinous Powers…' whispered the Road Warden as he held on to his left arm which bled from the wrist and the man collapsed to his knees with a mixed look of pain and disbelief on his face.

Sashura's eyes opened widely and she dropped her bloodied weapons and loudly exclaimed 'you bitten!' Rushing towards the Imperial lawman, the sell-sword quickly grabbed his arm to study the wound and indeed she saw human teeth-marks upon the man's flesh.

'Oh gods, you don't think?' asked the Imperial before Sashura suddenly just upped and left towards the stairway.

The Kislevite went towards the ground floor of the inn and she passed by the other wounded survivors who were also clutching fresh injuries while weeping and desperately praying to the gods. Mentally cursing as she realized that they were also likely to be infected, she went straight to the kitchen and to the counter where the cutting tools were kept. Grabbing a meat cleaver which seemed clean at the least, the sell-sword knew what she had to.

* * *

><p>With a sack cloth now placed over her head, Vanyra could hardly see through the threadbare linens. Hearing the thuds of wooden floorboards underneath her feet, she felt a sense of enclosure as her stone senses began to kick in. She was inside the blockhouse now and was being moved somewhere down a corridor where the faint scent of blood was picked up by the dwarf.<p>

'Didn't think anyone else was still alive out there' said one human to the side with a bit of surprise 'that dwarf got any gold on her?'

'Haven't checked yet' came the voice of another right behind her. Vanyra had a strong feeling that these humans were most likely a gang of either local brigands or deserters of the Imperial army.

Gently testing the strength of the manacles and feeling it press tightly against flesh, Vanyra found the metal to be weak and brittle (by dwarf standards at least), if she had her wrench, the Engineer was sure that she could easily break the links. If she also had something like a lockpick, she felt confident that she could disarm whatever feeble mechanism was used to keep it locked. Feeling another poke from the gun barrel at the back of her head, she was forced to stop struggling with the manacles.

'Bit of a feisty one aren't ya? Asked Scar-Face close to her right ear 'I like pretty girls who got some fight in them, maybe if you can show us where you keep some of that dwarf gold, we can give you a nicer stay'.

As disgusted as she was with this human, an idea came into the Engineer's mind and she calmly then spoke 'If its gold you want manling, I am willing to cut a deal then.'

'You pay us to let you go, eh?' asked Scar-face with a hint of avarice in his tone.

'Aye' replied Vanyra with a bit satisfaction at having piqued the human's interest 'you and your lads give me your word to let me go and I give my word to show you where my gold is.'

'Yeah? And what's to stop us from just taking it?' came the voice of another man.

'Do you think I would just carry around a sack of coins at a time like this manling?' replied Vanyra calmly 'it's just dead weight'

'How about we search you right now then? Said the same man again 'I hear you dwarfs keep hidden bags of gold on you.'

Rolling her eyes underneath the cloth sack, Vanyra wondered what other sort of outlandish superstitious beliefs these humans had. In her recent travels around the Empire, the dwarf had learned a lot of silly notions from the humans such as rubbing a halfling's belly can bring good luck, fire wizards can cure colds and shaving an elf will cause it to die, the last one though was worth quite a few laughs the first time she had heard it.

'That will not be necessary Herr Grouse' came a new voice ahead of her which spoke in a smoother and more cultured manner with a distinctly foreign accent.

The men behind her stopped in their tracks and Vanyra did the same, she heard a series of footsteps from ahead of her and the sack cloth was pulled up to reveal a pair striped trousered legs standing in front of her. Blinking for a moment before looking up, she saw a somewhat effeminate looking, dark skinned human man with wavy black hair, a thin moustache and blue eyes which regarded her with interest. At the least she thought, this human was easier on the eyes compared to Scar-Face.

The newcomer wore knee-high boots with a leather vest which was dyed blue on the upper area near the shoulders which worn over a loose white shirt with a black cape upon his back and a fancy leather cap with two great feathers upon it. The human's hands were covered by fine leather gloves and on his side, she noticed the thin needle-like sword, a rapier she believed it was called, which was tied to the side of the human's waist.

'Why you are just exquisite mein frau' smiled this new human and Vanyra found to her surprise, the urge to mirror the expression.

'Oi shove off Sierra' said familiar voice of the man who the newcomer called Grouse who was a reedy, wart-faced and balding man with a glass eye 'the boss wants have a quick word with this one.'

'Oh by all means Herr Grouse' said this foreign human named Sierra as he looked at the men behind Vanyra in eyes with one hand casually resting on the pommel of is rapier 'don't let me halt your progress; it is just so uncivilized to be treating a lady in such an uncouth manner.'

A snort of disdain came from Scar-Face who then muttered something about foreigners and the two men who were escorting Vanyra prodded her forwards again with the end of a gun barrel while this Sierra fellow stepped aside. The dwarf and her captors would shortly thereafter; travel up a flight stairs which led to an open space with mattresses laid about and several men armed with bows, crossbows and rifles were keeping watch by the murder-holes along the log walls. Some of the humans looked to her for a moment before turning their eyes back to the outside where the smell of the dead wafted in.

At the center of the room was a large stockpile of blackpowder and bullets as well as barrels filled with crossbow bolts and arrows. The dwarf's eyes widened a bit for there was enough ammunition there to adequately supply a small army for weeks. She was quick to also note that most of the humans were dressed in leathers, rags and a variety of mismatched clothes which further made her think that these humans may be outlaws or renegades.

One of the humans then peeled off from the groups watching the murder-holes and he slowly made his way to Vanyra and her escorts. Clad in a weathered set of dark plate armour with a well trimmed black mustached which formed an upside down U underneath his nose and mouth, this man wore the fur pelt of a wolf and an eye patch over his left eye, he had tired and stressed-out look on him, the kind which made most folk snappish. Looking down at Vanyra, the human spoke and she recognized his voice as the one who had commanded her to drop her weapons.

'So this is our newest guest' said the wolf-pelted human whose poise and demeanor made it clear that he was the man charge of these ruffians. The leader looked to be a middle aged human with a strong bearing which reminded somewhat Vanyra of Captain Hoffman, the Imperial officer who had been in charge of Fort Wachsein. She could see that he was carrying a brace of pistols on his person and the man had the look of someone who knew how to use it with deadly efficiency.

'Says she wants to make a deal Guvna' replied the man named Grouse as he finally took his gun off of Vanyra's head and rested the weapon over his right shoulder.

'Is that so then?' asked the outlaw leader with a creased eyebrow. 'Gonna hand over some of that precious dwarf gold eh?' he then asked.

'That is about it manling, yes' nodded Vanyra as she looked the man in his one eye. The human leader then studied her for a moment before his lips curled into a sneer of disdain as his eye became fixed on one of the Engineer's grenades. Looking up to the two men who had escorted her with a glare, the two men blanched at their leader's gaze.

'You idiots!' he shouted angrily at the two men and the attention of the other humans became directed to them 'you didn't bother to reliever her of those bombs!'

'A what' asked Scar-Face with confusion before their leader punched the man in face with enough force that Vanyra heard the crack of bone and it sent the ugly looking human sprawling to the floor.

'All right dwarf, hand over those explosives now' the human leader growled threateningly and Vanyra mentally cursed for those grenades were the only weapons she still carried.

'Well I can't manling' The Engineer replied as she jingled the chains of the manacles for emphasis. The leader hissed a rather foul curse word and ordered the other human, Grouse to remove her bandolier. 'You best be careful manling, you can blow us all up to Mannslieb if you are not careful' she then said and the human began to look extremely worried.

'I told you to drop your weapons dwarf' growled the human leader in a threatening manner as he then leveled his pistol at the Engineer who was now staring down the barrel of the gun.

'I did manling, your fellows relieved me of my crossbow, wrench and sword' replied Vanyra with grim confidence. Clearly, the human leader was not used to facing defiance and in the next moment, she saw a murderous glint in his one eye.

'Wait _Senor_!' shouted the familiar voice of the foreign human, Sierra 'she can be useful to us!'

Looking to the stairway from where the Engineer had earlier come up, the outlaw leader and the other humans looked to the foreigner.

'This dwarf is a danger to us all!' the human leader snarled with barely restrained anger 'it's bad enough that you got us into this mess!'

'The dead were an unexpected variable' shrugged the foreign human who then continued 'remember that I am still paying you and your illustrious band of brigands and if you still want that share of the Baron's treasure, I assure that this dwarf is exactly the kind of person we need.'

A conflicted look came over the human leader and after a tense moment of internal debate within the human, Vanyra saw with relief that he lowered his pistol. She wondered what was going on though, were these men planning some sort of heist? Did the foreigner know something about the cause of the dead rising?

'Fine, if you want the little tart for yourself, be my guest then' said the leader as he spat to the side and went back to the murder hole he had been watching earlier. The two humans who had escorted Vanyra then went off to the sides of the room to join their fellows with the foreign human walking towards her.

'Good help is so hard to find these days' spoke this Sierra fellow in a somewhat apologetic manner as knelt down behind Vanyra and she felt him working on the manacles. After a few seconds, a click was sounded the bindings around her wrists came off with the foreigner removing them. 'Free as bird you are now _Senorita_' said the human.

'Well thanks I guess manling' said Vanyra as she rubbed her wrists.

'Lucio' the man then said with a formal bow '_Lucio Sierra de los Magritta'_

'Vanyra Skorisdottir' simply said the Engineer as she introduced herself.

'I heard that you are willing to make a deal with my… employees?' asked the foreign human.

'Aye, I was' nodded the dwarf carefully for a situation like this could still turn hostile.

'If you are willing to listen' said the human with a smile 'I have a proposal of my own, one which I can assure will save this little town and be most profitable at the same time.'

'Well then manling, I am sure we can come to some sort of agreement' replied Vanyra with an intrigued grin.

* * *

><p>'Oh sweet Verena no! no! no!' argued Franz Weis as he stood in the way of Sashura.<p>

The Kislevite had tried to explain how the diseases of the Plague God were capable of transmitting through the bites or scratches of the infected and that one of the most sure ways to amputate the body part which had been cut and cauterize it afterwards. The two of them were currently in the kitchen where the Imperial had confronted her and asked what she was going to do with the cleaver and Sashura explained her intentions.

'We have to or they turn!' insisted the sell-sword with alarm for every second wasted was an increased chance for the infection to spread.

'We can't just start cutting people's limbs off!' shouted the Imperial rather agitatedly 'surely there is some other way!'

'We have no doctor eh! No priest of Salyak to make healing!' replied Sashura 'if they turn, then you or me maybe get bitten!'

'Then we find a way to cure them!' the Imperial then said 'we send someone out through the tunnel the dwarf took and we look for any priestesses at the Temple of Shallya or Sigmar'

A polite cough was then sounded and the two of them turned their attention to see the innkeeper who was standing near the entrance of the kitchen.

'How long you stand there?' asked Sashura

'Err long enough Mein Frau' shrugged the innkeeper rather nervously 'I overheard your uh, conversation and well we do have an alchemist's shop in town.'

'Does it sell healing draughts and elixirs?' questioned Franz with a hopeful tone in his voice.

'Aye, the Three Herbs sells all sorts of medicines Mein Herr' replied the innkeeper.

'Then that's where I am going!' announced the Franz with conviction as he then asked 'where do I find it?'

'You find it?' asked Sashura incredulously 'you not go alone! I go with!'

'You didn't seem bothered when the dwarf left alone' pointed out Franz Weiss.

'Because dwarf is smart, good fighter and lucky, no need help' was the answer of Sashura as she set the cleaver down and quickly went out of the kitchen.

'What is that supposed to mean!?' called Franz Weiss to which the Kislevite did not respond.

Heading back upstairs to retrieve her sword and dagger, she passed by the old Handgunner, Wilhelm and the Road Warden who were busy trying to keep the other survivors calm. The sell-sword told them of what she knew about the diseases created by the Plague God and the plan to head to the alchemist's shop to acquire what medicines they could and to her surprise; both men were quick to volunteer.

The Handgunner said that despite being retired from the Imperial Army, he was still willing to lay down his life for the people of the Empire. The Road Warden's reason for volunteering was that he still had a wife and son, Lotti and Karl Grim of whom he had to get back to. It was admirable that the law enforcer was willing to fight on, despite his wound.

After reclaiming the weapons she had dropped and making sure to properly clean them using rags from the clothes of the dead, Sashura then sheathed her weapons and went back upstairs to her room. Retrieving her Ungol Horse Bow and a quiver of arrows, the sell-sword was quick to make her way back down and towards the kitchen where she found the three men waiting for her.

'So where we go?' asked the Kislevite towards them.

'The Three Herbs is south of here' replied the Old Handgunner as he rested his hands on muzzles of his Repeater rifle while the stock rested on the floorboards while smoking a pipe. 'If there aren't a lot of dead around it' he then said while releasing puffs of smoke 'we can get in and out quickly'.

'Lead the way then' said Rickert Grim with a grim nod, Sashura noticed the fresh bandages on the Road Warden's arm and she hoped that this medicine idea worked because she was not looking to play Barber-Surgeon tonight.

* * *

><p>'So, simple enough then I trust?' asked Lucio Sierra with a confident grin as they now sat down across each other upon a pair of wooden chairs with a table between them.<p>

'You want me to break into the Church of Sigmar and get a key?' asked Vanyra a bit skeptically for the human had been rather cryptic and vague as of why he needed this key.

'Oh there won't be any need for breaking and entering my dear' replied the human 'just tell the Priests, if there are still any, that you need the key to help put the dead back to sleep, I can assure you that you will not be lying'

'And they will just believe me? How do you even know this will work manling?' questioned the dwarf who was still rather skeptical of all of this.

'You should know by now my dear, that these Sigmarites hold your kin in high esteem' answered the foreign human 'give your word as a dwarf and they will be willing to assist you'

'I see, but really though manling, what is your stake in all of this?' Vanyra then asked with curiosity.

'if you must insist my dear' replied the human in the same polite manner 'all you need to know is that the key you will look for will lead to a vault beneath the local baronial manor, there is something there which I seek.'

'And would this something have anything to do with all of the zombies trying to eat people?' Vanyra asked again.

'Most astute of you my dear' smiled the human 'indeed that the item I am looking for may be the cause of why the dead are rising and I can give you my word that I can put the dead back to sleep'

'Are you some sort of sorcerer then? A necromancer of the dark arts?' questioned the dwarf with suspicion.

'I promise you that it is nothing like that!' said the human 'I am a… collector you can say, someone with an interest in various occult things.'

'I see' replied Vanyra a bit unconvinced as she then continued a bit warily 'If you swear that you can stop whatever is causing all of this with the dead, then I will agree to assist you, manling.'

'Splendid then my dear!' said the human with elation 'you truly have a hero's heart you know?'

'Yes well, let's not get too far into that manling' replied Vanyra a bit hesitantly as she turned away with a slight blush on her cheeks.

'I will have your equipment returned to your possession and as an act of good faith, I will gift you with some of our extra stores of bolts and bullets' continued the human.

'Well that is generous of you then manling' nodded the dwarf who felt surprised at this and the human raised his right hand towards her, gesturing for a handshake.

Raising her left hand to the human so she could seal this deal and get out, she felt the human gently grab and puller her arm up. The human then kissed her gloved hand and Vanyra could not help but blush a bit more.

'I wish you all of the luck my dear' the human then said 'you are going to need it.'

As charming as this Lucio Sierra fellow was, there was something about him which set of some alarms in Vanyra. She couldn't quite shake off the feeling that perhaps she may have mistakenly made a devil's deal.

* * *

><p>Crawling out of the tunnels which Vanyra had traveled through, Sashura began to become somewhat worried about her companion as she emerged into a place which smelled of death. Lifting up a dimmed lantern held by her left hand and her <em>shaska<em> on the right, her eyes widened at the grisly scene of chewed up corpses all around here. '_Chyort_' hissed the Kislevite as she covered her nose and mouth with the sleeve of her right arm and soon she heard similar sentiments from her companions as they climbed out from the hole and saw what the source of the stench was.

'Come on, we go' muttered Sashura with disgust as she followed the direction from where the wind was blowing.

The four survivors cautiously made their way to the entrance of the warehouse which the dwarf had earlier passed and they found the several slain zombies which had been expertly dispatched by single shots to the head.

'That dwarf can sure shoot straight' muttered Wilhelm the Handgunner with praise as he stepped over the body of a dead man.

'Let's try to keep quiet about this' whispered Rickert Grim and the rest of the party were in agreement.

They stepped out into the open streets of Mordendorf where several zombies milled about. The cold wind blew the stench of the dead to their faces as their moans could always be heard by their ears. Each of the four were also still rather tired from the day's events and none had yet to fully rest.

Following the lead of Wilhelm who brought them through the streets of the town, their journey mostly went unnoticed for Sashura had brought her bow for the sake of silent kills. Having handed her lantern to Franz who also wielded his spiked cudgel, the Kislevite switched to using her bow and she dispatched the zombies in their way with well placed arrows to the skull. Eventually, they found their way to the store the innkeeper called the Three Herbs, the wooden signboard of the shop depicted three medicinal plants coloured red, blue and green.

The shop itself was not much different in architecture from the rest of the town, it was a two story tenement with a glass window at the front which displayed several pots full of medicine. The party of four were quick to note that there was large blood trail which led into the shop's open doorway, as if a body had been dragged inside. The survivors looked to one another rather cautiously and they began moving towards the shop without a word needed to be spoken.

The smell of a rotten corpse could be found within the building and they could hear the disgusting sounds of the dead feasting on something. Quickly and quietly, they agreed to eliminate the zombies inside first and all they needed to do was follow the sound of the undead. Passing by the main area where customers would have browsed the medicinal wares, they remained cautious and perhaps a bit paranoid for every one of their steps could betray them with a single creek of the wood boards.

It seemed that luck was on their side for they found three zombies gathered around the grisly remains of a body, each of the ghoulish things had mouths which were stained red with blood as let loose disgusting, wet sounds. Raising her bow, Sashura readied and fired an arrow which killed one zombie and she drew another from her quiver and killed the second and third without her companions needing to do anything.

'Nice shot' commented Franz Weiss as he went inside the room to inspect the place with Road Warden following after him. Guessing that she with the old man for now, Sashura accompanied the old man back towards the store area and they began to rummage through the shelves and counters filled with a variety of medicinal items and they began to stuff them into cloth bags made from the inn's blankets.

'Potions here' whispered Wilhelm as he picked up a red glass bottle and studied it for a moment before putting it into his bag and Sashura made sure to grab some poultices from a shelf. It seemed that in her many years of being a mercenary, Sashura could definitely add thievery to her list of skills. After a few minutes of randomly stuffing jars, bottles and dried herbs into her bag, Sashura felt somewhat glad and perhaps a bit wary on how smoothly things were going so far.

A sudden loud crash of metal pots and pans was heard from the kitchen which stunned Sashura as her eyes widened in horror for she was sure that any zombies outside may have heard it. Quickly stuffing one last jar into her bag, the sell-sword looked to the old Handgunner who nodded to her and they went off to search for the other two. Hearing footsteps from within, they heard Franz and Rickert coming to the entrance hall and they saw the blood which coated the garments of the Altdorf Press Writer.

'One of the dead jumped me' explained the Imperial with an apologetic shrug 'still not bitten'

'We better get out and head back to the inn' quietly said Wilhelm and Sashura could not agree more but the sound of feet shuffling outside could be heard and they saw several zombies lurching their way towards the house

'Fantastic' sarcastically muttered Franz Weiss.

Readying another arrow, Sashura noted the other two Imperials bringing up their guns and pointing it at the doorway and she heard a brief exchange from them.

'Fight or Flight?' asked Rickert Grim as he thumbed the hammer on his flintlock pistol. The moans of the zombies began to become closer and Sashura heard the thud of the Handgunner setting down the sack of medicine they had acquired and he unslung his repeater rifle. 'Fight or Flight?' he then asked again as a zombie already stepped through the main entrance of the shop and Sashura could see its hideously rotted features.

'Both!' answered Wilhelm and the sound of gunfire filled the air as the acrid stench of spent gunpowder mixed with the smell of rot and decay.


End file.
